The verdict is in: The U.S. Department of Commerce has found that there’s been significant “dumping” of steel pipe and tube by companies based in South Korea and elsewhere. This is a big reversal from Commerce’s preliminary decision on the subject of Oil Country Tubular Goods (OCTG) products, which had let chief offender South Korea get off scot free.
This story got picked up by the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Associated Press, and Reuters, among others. It’s a big one; had Commerce decided otherwise, thousands of jobs up and down the steel supply chain in America would have been left at serious risk. That’s why, leading up to last week’s verdict, thousands of workers turned out at rallies around the country to tell Washington just how important its decision was.
But those workers aren’t out of the woods yet. Tomorrow comes the next critical step in this process, when this case goes before the International Trade Commission that will decide whether the case’s petitioners have been financially injured or are threatened by injury by this dumping. Stick with the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM) tomorrow; we’ll be following the news closely.
Extra, extra: It’s Netroots Nation week. AAM is traveling to Detroit for the annual political blogger conference. What will be talking about? Manufacturing, natch. Keep an eye on our social media accounts for updates from the convention floor.